It’s 2 a.m. at the University of Tampa. What’s everyone up to? Some students are already in a deep sleep whereas others have just caught their second wind. I know for me, I am procrastinating on my homework, and I have various ways of doing so. My newfound toy to delay sleep is my friend’s GameCube. After convincing him to let me keep it in my room, I am able to play it and avoid homework. The GameCube comes with so many nostalgic games, and lately, I have been able to occupy my time reminiscing instead of getting work done.
When I find other night owls willing to join my procrastination, I break out the multiplayer games. “Mario Kart” is one of the best. It usually involves a lot of over exaggerated motions. We actually think the controller is a steering wheel. On the weekends when no one wants to go out and there is a large enough group, we play “Mario Party.” Even the gaming illiterate can handle this game, and with all the mini games to play you never get bored (unless the amount of turns is set to an astronomical number).
Of course, we cannot forget about “Super Smash Bros,” a game that involves a lot of violence on screen and rivalry off screen. This is one of my favorite games to play. Although I try to avoid playing this game during the weekdays so as not to wake up my sleeping suitemates with my uncontrollable screaming. If everyone is asleep or has actually decided to start their homework I prefer to play the adventure games on the GameCube. I have never gotten the hang of the fighting games like in arcades, but I love something with a plot like “The Legend of Zelda,” one of my all-time favorite games on any gaming system. I can never get enough of my little swordsman fighting to save the princess.
I am not that hardcore of a gamer to use the GameCube every night just to procrastinate. I, as well as almost everyone I know, use a computer. Our dorm room gets eerily silent around 2 a.m. while some girls sleep and the rest are sucked into the Internet.
The classic social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest are extremely addicting. The only time anyone makes a sound is when my roommate shows me the latest pin on her numerous boards. A computer is the easiest way to instantly procrastinate at 2 a.m. You find yourself distracted for what seems like minutes only for it to turn into an hour.
Whether it’s playing video games on the GameCube or surfing the web on my computer, I find ample ways to procrastinate at 2 a.m. There are the nights where I even have company during my procrastination. Technology is how I spend my time avoiding homework until sleep wins or last minute panic suddenly sparks the determination I need to finish that growing pile of homework.
Alyssa Hingre can be reached at hingrea@yahoo.com.